At the Google developer conference in May, the search giant introduced a new feature called AI Overviews, injecting AI-generated summaries into its search results. While the feature didn’t always work as intended, it survived. Now, Microsoft is following Google's example by adding generative search features to Bing.
"By combining the power of generative AI and large language models with the search results page, Bing's generative search creates a bespoke and dynamic response to a user's query," Microsoft announced Wednesday. “This new experience combines the foundation of Bing’s search results with the power of large and small language models.”
Its announcement was vastly overshadowed by OpenAI unveiling a preview of SearchGPT on Thursday, which is also seen as a direct challenge to Google's dominance. As of January 2024, Google commands over 81% of the desktop search market share, while Bing trails with a modest 10.51%, according to Statista.
Stressing the need to offer a useful, tailored search result, Microsoft further added, “It understands the search query, reviews millions of sources of information, dynamically matches content, and generates search results in a new AI-generated layout to fulfill the intent of the user’s query more effectively.”
The new Bing search result page will show an AI-created response created by models trained on millions of datasets to offer accurate and relevant results. Further, a “Document Index” will dive deeper into the topic and help users with additional information relevant to the search query.
Bing will also list the source of these citations right after the AI-generated response. These clickable links will take users directly to the source of the information should they want to verify or need additional information.
This feature was made available to a select group of users beginning Thursday. Adopting a cautious approach, Microsoft said that they're "slowly rolling this out" and will "take time" to incorporate user feedback. The company promises more details "in the coming months."
However, learning from the mixed response to Google’s implementation, Microsoft ensures that users continue to get traditional search results—albeit moved into a sidebar on the right side of the page.
The company says it is also mindful of the impact of AI-curated search on content publishers. It claims the “generative search experience is designed with this in mind, including retaining traditional search results and increasing the number of clickable links, like the references in the results.”
The search engine landscape is becoming increasingly competitive, with OpenAI's search feature currently being tested by over 10,000 users.
Interestingly, Microsoft—a major investor in OpenAI—has not used its Copilot branding in this latest announcement, despite Bing Chat (now Copilot) relying on OpenAI's GPT-4 and Dall-E 3.
Also in the mix is Perplexity, a free AI chatbot pitched as an “answer engine” that offers search engine capabilities.
As these AI-powered search tools continue to evolve, the challenge of combating misinformation, avoiding hallucinations, and citing sources remain top concerns.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.